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1 cup vital wheat gluten
¾ cup vegetable broth

1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp poultry seasoning

3 cups water
Vegetable-based boullion cubes or paste (use appropriate amount)
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp dried marjoram
¼ tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp dried rosemary
Insert your favorite herb or spice

In a medium mixing bowl, add the wheat gluten, garlic powder, and poultry seasoning. Combine with a whisk. Add vegetable broth and mix well with a spatula to form the gluten dough. It is VERY important to use vegetable broth. If you use plain water they will taste about as good as soggy cardboard.

Once the gluten is mixed, cut the dough into 4 separate pieces. Take each piece and do your best to stretch and flatten it into a ½” thick meat shape (think oval cutlet). This will take time… you really have to work it and stretch it to get it to maintain shape. Don’t worry if it shrinks a little, just get the general shape. They will expand later when cooked. Set them aside to rest while you move on to the next step.

Prepare the broth in a pan (at least 10″ diameter and 3″ deep) on the stove by mixing the water, boullion, and whatever other herbs and spices you desire (this is up to you depending on what you want the final hint of flavor to be). When the liquid is simmering gently, slip in the seitan cutlets very carefully. Make sure they are covered by at least 1″ of broth, since they will expand and suck up the liquid. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 90 minutes. Note: DO NOT BOIL THEM. Simmer gently. If you boil them, they will come out tough and rubbery.

That’s it.

You can use these for a variety of recipes, but I prefer them “country fried”. See recipe below.

Note: Sometimes you can find powdered vegan vegetable boullion at co-ops in the bulk bins. Or you can use powdered vegetable broth as a good substitute. I have also found a concentrated paste product called “Better Than Boullion”. They make a mushroom-based and vegetable-based vegan boullion (links are to Amazon). If you try these, let me know how they work out. We used the vegetable base and it worked well (plus our kitchen smelled great) — bought it at the Food Lion around the corner.

2-4 Prepared Seitan Steaks

Frying pan, filled with ½ inch of peanut oil

1 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
pinch of salt
dash of pepper

½ cup plain soymilk (do not use low fat version)

1 cup unbleached flour

½ medium onion, diced
3 Tbsp unbleached flour
1-½ cups plain soymilk (not low fat)
1-½ Tbsp vegan margarine (Earth Balance)

Heat oil to 375 deg F. Use a thermometer!

Put bread crumbs, herbs, salt and pepper in one bowl, soymilk in a second bowl, and flour in a third bowl. This is your 3-step process for breading the steaks. Take each steak, and press it into the FLOUR FIRST, both sides. Make sure to really coat them. Then, quickly dip into the SOYMILK SECOND, and then finally press into the BREAD CRUMBS THIRD.

Now transfer to the frying pan heated to 375 F. Use a good pair of tongs to make it easy. Do this for each seitan steak, until golden brown as desired on each side. Then transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up the oil.

Now — quickly! — drain the oil from the pan into an oil saver or whatever you do, but don’t wipe the pan clean. Return the pan to the burner, keep heat on high, and add the diced onion. Quickly stir the onion around until the pan heats up again. Now lower the heat to medium. Once the onion is starting to brown, add the 3 T flour and keep stirring. After 30 seconds, slowly add the soymilk, then the margarine, and stir until all is mixed. Cook and continue stirring until it bubbles up and begins to thicken to your likeness. Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve on top of the fried seitan steaks. If you did all this right, the gravy should take less than 4 minutes to prepare, your steaks should still be hot from frying, and you are about to enjoy country-fried heaven!